Harbour Hopper can’t hop into Halifax Harbour while U.S. navy in town

The Harbour Hopper on a tour last summer. The tour will still splash into water, but the Harbour Hopper won’t be hopping into the Halifax Harbour till the U.S. navy has left port.

The amphibious vehicle used for the tours by Murphy’s The Cable Wharf usually enters the harbour using a ramp between the dockyard and Casino Nova Scotia on Upper Water Street, but until July 7, the tour has been rerouted.

“It was CFB Maritime Command who notified us that a request had come through from the U.S. navy, for security purposes, that the ramp be closed for use,” Murphy’s spokesperson Terri McColluch said Thursday.

McColluch said Murphy’s worked with the municipality to find an alternative, but there weren’t any other ways to drive into the harbour, so they’re hopping into the Northwest Arm instead. Contributed The Harbour Hopper’s new route, from June 26 – July 7. The tour will still last its usual 55 minutes and, most importantly for Murphy’s, will still travel by land and sea.

“As long as we preserve the duration of the tour and the integrity of the tour by offering both of those components, the visitors seem to be pretty happy about it,” McColluch said.

“It was unexpected, I will say that, but we have to work with the folks who make the rules and regulations around the use of the harbour, and they’ve been doing their best to try and work with us to figure out a solution.”